A Charred Memory
by Drexon
Summary: A close friends death at the 6th Pokémon League sends Ash Ketchum into solitude up at Mt. Silver. But after 7 years the 7th Pokémon League finally returns, so does revenge and perhaps a little bit more. AshxCynthia
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

**A Charred Memory: Chapter 1**

* * *

"**Again!**" echoed on the top of Mt. Silver.

Thunderstorms and hail could be made out from the bottom of the mountain; raging on the mostly undiscovered parts of Mt. Silver, no person has ever been able to get so far up. Few people dared to even get close to it, not to mention attempt to climb it.

Yet every time someone has attempted to climb the big and merciless mountain they would always get to the same area before losing their conscious.

Everyone reports the same sight and sounds.

A man sitting on top of a Icy hill looking out over the snowy landscape before him. They would always say that it was once the man turned his gaze towards them, that they would fall unconscious.

At the end of every report, they all claim that the last thing they heard, was a captivating and soothing melody.

* * *

"Alright guys that's enough for today," said a man walking towards his companions with a red and white cap on his head. The four creatures sparring in the harsh weather looked at him for a minute before walking towards him themselves.

A yellow mouse-like creature proceeded to jump on top of the mans shoulder, only to relocate to his head and rest pleasantly.

"You know you could always wait until we arrive at the cave, right buddy?" asked the man to the yellow mouse on top of his head.

The mouse only responded with a tired, "You train us to exhaustion everyday Ash, shut up,"

Ash smiled to himself as he reached up and patted the yellow mouse's head, earning a small squeal of delight from the pokémon.

"You've always been the lazyass in our group, Pikachu," came a voice behind them.

Ash looked over his shoulder slightly to see his Blastoise smiling at the Pikachu on top of his head.

"Aren't you the one that falls asleep on your stomach as soon as we get home everyday Blastoise?" answered Ash to the pokémon behind him.

This earned a small snicker around the group that was walking towards their destination, most of them with heavy and slow footsteps.

"Oh he sure is!" added a light-purple creature almost abit too loudly. The other pokémon flinching at the tone, Ash simply continued on walking as if it was nothing.

"Can you stop talking so loudly Exploud? It's enough with that you're riding on my back," growled an irritated Venasaur. The other pokémon smiled at the usual scene between the two, they would always bicker and throw curses at each other about the smallest of things.

Though, to prevent a fight someone always had to break it up, "Exploud, would you be so kind to walk yourself, my friend?" Ash said with his gaze forward, knowing that his loud friend would do so, he always did.

"Hmpf, whatever you say Ash," Exploud jumped off the annoyed overgrown plant, and continued to walk beside him as he always did.

The group of five continued to walk through the merciless environment, mostly in silence. Though the small chit-chat between the pokémon was present, it was barely heard over the wind that never seemed to end at the top of Mt. Silver.

As they continued their walk, taking the usual route home, a small wooden cabin situated inside of a small cave came into sight.

It wasn't very impressive or grand, though it fit everyone in his team aswell as small cabin had been the home of him and his friends for the past seven years.

'We've lived here for quite awhile huh?..' the young man thought to himself, his thoughts trailing on towards where they shouldn't be.

'Ever since that incident..'

-**Flashback**-

"The 6th Pokémon League has never had such a dominating performance in the finals! Just what is happening, ladies and gentlemen?!" was heard through the speakers in the large arena, causing the crowd to cheer even wilder and louder.

A Charizard could be seen panting on his side of the battlefield, on the other a perfectly fine Garchomp was present.

"Charizard take it to the skies!" could be heard from a very nervous 15 year old boy. The Charizard complied and shot up towards the sky at a shocking speed, gaining more and more height over his opponent.

"Garchomp don't let Charizard get away! Follow him!" a very feminine voice shouted towards her pokémon. The Garchomp obeyed and shot up towards Charizard at an almost greater speed, gaining the distance between it and the orange dragon.

"Keep Garchomp at bay, **Flamethrower**!" Charizard roared as he shot the searing hot flames towards the pokémon that was getting closer and closer.

"Garchomp, counter it with your own!" the female trainer responded, her Garchomp firing a fast and powerful flamethrower itself towards Charizard's.

The flamethrowers met in the space between the two battling pokémon, causing a large explosion to occur at the meeting point of the two powerful fire attacks.

Charizard felt the shockwave from the explosion and winced at the sound that was emitted from it, momentarily losing his sight the large orange dragon didn't have a chance to notice a speeding Garchomp flying through the thick smoke created by their fire attacks meeting, spreading the smoke over the entire battlefield aswell as the sky,"Garchomp, get close and use Giga Impact!"

The Garchomp obeyed and speeded towards the orange dragon, getting up almost in front of Charizard.

All that Cynthia could hear was the sound of a large creature hitting the battlefield ground. It was the finals of the 6th Pokémon League, no one takes chances here. And Cynthia, even though she had only lost one pokémon prior to her Garchomp, couldn't take chances.

"Garchomp, finish it with **Draco Meteor**!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

* * *

Ash was gritting his teeth as he saw Garchomp emerge from the smoke created by the two powerful fire attacks, he desperately tried to call out towards his Charizard to move, but it seemed as if the orange dragon was at the brink of exhaustion.

He saw how Cynthia's Garchomp flew up to his friend of several years and fired a point-blank Giga Impact at the large dragon. Charizard took the full brunt of the attack and started crashing down towards the ground at an alarming speed.

"Charizard!" Ash shouted as loud as he could, hoping that the dragon could somehow come to his senses and make the landing less painful.

Everything stood still as he saw his Charizard meet with the hard ground of the battlefield, his friend was laying almost lifeless in the crater caused by the clash of the large dragon and the battlefield floor.

The Referee was patiently waiting for the rest of the smoke to clear and to make a final judgment, beginning to raise the red flag.

Ash was starting to walk towards his now bruised and battered companion, until he heard something that made his whole body freeze.

"Garchomp, finish it with **Draco Meteor**!" shouted a feminine voice.

The fifteen year old boy tried shout and wave his arms for the large creature to stop as the Garchomp appeared over his fallen friend.

Ash witnessed the Garchomp's attack hitting the unconscious pokémon close up, the Charizard not even making a sound on impact as he skidded across the hard ground of the battlefield, hitting the wall hard just on the right side of Ash.

The whole crowd was silent at what had just happened.

All that could be heard in the arena was a young boy's broken sounding voice, "Charizard!". The boy ran as fast as he could towards his towards his friend. Tears threatening to come out of his eyes as it would complete his currently very pained expression.

He dropped to his knees next to the large orange dragon, trying to get a response from him. "Hey buddy, can you hear me?" he squeaked out, sounding abit more shaky then he had done before.

"Charizard, it isn't funny! Move or something, let me know you're with me!" he half-shouted at his pokémon, tears slipping down his cheeks and landing on the orange dragon's skin.

The crowd was watching the scene with horrified expressions on their faces, tears threating to come out. No one made a sound, only listened to the broken sounding boy next to his pokémon, screaming for him to wake up.

"C'mon buddy! Wake up!" He screamed and slammed his fists on the ground, tears flowing down his pained face. Only close-up could you see the blood trailing out from the orange dragons wounds, Ash had been in too much shock to notice it until now, his friend of five years was gradually getting weaker and weaker.

He turned to the Referee that was watching him with a horrified expression aswell, and shouted "What are you staring at?! Why aren't you running and getting help?!", this startled the Referee as he immediately darted towards the tunnel that lead into the arena, stopping by the phone in the tunnel.

Ash turned back towards his friend, trying to tell him to wake up once more, that it wasn't funny. The orange dragon hadn't made a single move since he'd hit the wall, just lay limply on the ground, no signs of breathing, no nothing. Only bruises that was accompanied by a pool of red liquid, gradually becoming larger and larger.

The boy heard footsteps behind him, he slowly turned in hope of it being the medical staff. Oh boy was he wrong.

"A-Ash.." Cynthia squeaked out, "I'm s-so sorr-" the 18 year-old woman couldn't finish her apology until the boy before her growled out "Get the hell away from us! This is your fault!"

The young champion flinched at the tone the young boy was using, "Ash.. p-please," she said in a quiet voice, tears running down her pale cheeks.  
"**NO,**"He raised his voice higher, "**YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM US!**"

Ash turned away from her, the friend he had cared for deeply had done this to one of his closest friends. He can't forgive such a thing..

-**End Flashback**-

He felt himself get knocked down towards the snow. Spitting out the dirt that had followed the cold watery snow into his mouth he immediately turned around to see who had done it, only to see his own pokémon staring at him with pained and sad expressions.

"What did you do that for?" He asked in a rather shaky voice, surprising himself with such a weak sounding voice.

"You have been standing in front of us shaking and holding your necklace for quite some time, Ash," Blastoise explained to him, gesturing towards his hand and looking at him with pained eyes. It was only then he noticed his hand was slightly hurting.

He opened his fist, only to reveal a small C carved out of a fire stone they had found way back. Although it was slightly stained with blood at this moment.

"I.. see," was the only thing he responded with, while shakily getting up on his feet.

"We'll get sick if we stay out here, let's go inside," was what he said as he turned on his feet and walked towards the small cabin in front of him.

His four pokémon looked between themselves and nodded slowly.

* * *

Once the five had arrived inside of their small home most of them sat down in their corners of the cabin, either resting, chatting or eating.

They had all been resting for barely twenty minutes when a familiar sounding knock was heard on the small cabin's door. Ash always being the one to answer the door between him and his pokémon, made his way towards the rather large door.

Ash opened it only to find a familiar face there, "Back already Lucario?"

"It seems so, master," said the blue and black, jackal-like pokémon, "Lua wished for me to keep her company, i do believe you would've wanted me too aswell,"

"She's getting lonely?" was the only thing Ash could think from this small piece of information. "Most likely," answered the Lucario with a thoughtful expression.

"I've felt her presence circle the top of the mountain lately," Ash said, "Any news about climbers and the likes?"

The Jackal pokémon frowned, "I haven't heard anything from Lua herself, though she has been taking trips down the mountain a lot more frequently as of late, master"

"Hnn.." the trainer grunted out, "She's responsible enough for such things i suppose.."

"She has grown quite a lot during the years, master," Lucario added. The trainer smiled to himself.

"I guess she has, huh?" he sighed.

The two were broken out of their small chat by a rather loud sounding cough from behind.

Ash turned towards the sound only to notice his four pokémon was staring at him, "What is it guys?" he wondered what was so important for them to interrupt his and Lucario's chat.

"We wish to speak with you, about our wishes as your pokémon, Ash," Venasaur said almost abit too quickly, as if he had done something wrong, only further making Ash question what this would be about.

Ash being abit confused at his pokémon's odd behavior, he could only answer with a questioning "Alright?", motioning for them to step outside.

All six of his pokémon had gathered outside of their cave, staring at the trainer before them, although Lua and Lucario was as equally confused as Ash.

"Sooo," he began, "You wanted to talk about 'your wishes as my pokémon', what's that all about?" he asked rather calmly.

The four pokémon that proposed this idea were looking amongst themselves, probably to find a suitable speaker. Though it didn't take long before Venasaur pushed Exploud forward.

Exploud landed in the snow face first, making them all sweat-drop at Venasaur's actions. 'Those two should really learn to get along..' was his only thought at the scene before him.

The light-purple colored pokémon hastily stood up and fiddled with his fingers for a short moment before speaking too hastily, taking in abit too much air,

"**ASH WE WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOU-**" he started, only to be knocked down into the snow again by Blastoise, covering his ears in pain.

"Damnit Exploud, you're gonna make us all deaf someday," growled the large blue turtle in an irritated tone. Every pokémon seemed to agree as they clutched their hands over their ears.

Ash was clutching his ears until a small yellow-like mouse jumped in front of him, all of the pokémon, including the now shivering Exploud, was paying full attention to the yellow rodent.

"Ash, we as your pokémon feel that the time is-" he started, breathing in and out deeply, "It's time for us to leave this place,"

This earned an eerie silence. All that could be heard was the all too familiar raging winds of Mt. Silver. The pokémon looked at their trainer for quite some time, waiting for an answer.

"Why?" Ash broke the silence with, "Why do you want to leave this place?" he questioned.

For a minute or two, silence overcame the group once more, until a large blue turtle stepped forward, "We wish to compete in the 7th Pokémon League Ash, we want to honor.. him," gesturing towards Ash.

Ash didn't get it at first, though as he thought about it abit more, he started clutching his necklace in his hand again.

It took a few seconds, but Ash turned towards his other two pokémon "Lua and Lucario, do you wish so aswell?" he asked with a rather neutral voice. Both the large white dragon-like pokémon and the black jackal-like pokémon looked at each other for a few seconds before nodding towards the other.

"If master finds the plan suitable, i have no objections," answered Lucario calmly, everyone's gaze turned to the large white dragons figure, awaiting it's response. It took a minute or two, but soon it rang in everyone's minds, her answer.

"**Yes,**" she said with a long pause "**If it can ease the clouded minds of my companions, it** **would be an honor,**"

The other pokémon smiled at their newest friend, although she isn't all that new, two years into their journey on Mt. Silver they had found her amongst the caves water routes, hurt and what seemed to be abandoned by her kin. It is however, very rare for the Lugia's to abandon a child of their packs.

However, Ash took it in himself to raise the child-like pokémon with outmost care along with his companions. And she has grown into one of the more mature of the six pokémon he has had the pleasure to train for all these years.

It was silent for a good while until the trainer spoke, "For Charizard huh?..", he turned around and began to walk towards their cave and kept walking until he heard his pokémon following him.

He turned around and said, "I like that idea," with a bright smile on his face.

* * *

In the region of Sinnoh a young woman sat in her living room, looking through the window at the now falling snowflakes. The woman quietly sipped her coffee, sighing as it was that time of the year again.

It was winter, but sadly this usually pleasant time of the year wouldn't be like any other winter for her. Namely the 7th Pokémon League was gonna be held this year, an event which held some depressing memories for the current champion of the Sinnoh region.

"Cynthia?" said a familiar voice.

Cynthia turned around to see her Grandmother standing beside her, a cup of tea in her hands. "Yes, grandma?"

"You will be late if you don't start packing soon, dear," the older woman informed her. Packing wasn't something she was in the mood of doing, none the less travel to the league. Though as the winner of the previous one, she had some obligations to the league itself.

She didn't feel like the winner at all, it only made her feel horrible. What she did to him was something she never forgot for all these years.

Her grandma's voice broke her out of her thinking, "Maybe he'll be there? There's things to look forward too dear, don't look so down,"

Cynthia stared at her grandmother, before once again sighing and looking away. 'I sure am looking forward to the reason i haven't had a good night of sleep for the past seven years..' she thought bitterly.

"Oh stop it with your self-pitying, start packing," was heard in a irritated tone. The young woman put her hands up in a defensive posture, "Alright, alright," before she stood up and walked up towards her room.

* * *

It had been a week since that evening, that week had been spent training hard with sparring sessions until their leave from what they had called home for so many years.

It was the day of departure and everyone had gathered in front of their home, Ash looked at them with a neutral expression, "I guess it is time for us to show everyone what we've trained for, huh?"

This question earned a roar of determination and the trainer smirked to himself, "Glad you think so aswell," he said before continuing, "However, i'm afraid all but two has to return to their respective pokéballs," he sighed, "I know it has been a long time, but it's only for this trip i promise,".

The six pokémon nodded and proceeded to get returned into their respective pokéballs. However Lua and Pikachu stayed outside, as Lua would fly them towards their destination and Pikachu was just... well Pikachu.

"Alright do you think we've got everything buddy?" he looked at his mouse-like friend with a slight smile.

"Why are you asking me that? You're that one that keeps track of uhh.. our things," Pikachu jumped up to the back of Lua laying down flat on his stomach, "Can't we just go already?" he whined.

"In abit, no need to be so hasty," he answered. The man turned to look at Lua who seemed to be staring at him. It's rare for the dragon to keep her gaze at someone for longer then a few seconds, 'Why is she staring?..' he thought.

"Anything wrong, Lua?" he questioned, the white dragon immediately spoke up with a relaxed and calm tone. "**You are looking forward to this.. aren't you?**" she questioned, a small smile forming on her face.

Ash chuckled softly, "I guess i am.. I'm looking forward to seeing a few people," Lua looked at him with a questioning expression, as if wanting Ash to go on.

"Some old friends you see, though.. i think i'll give them a little surprise," he smiled, "You could say i'm finally looking forward to something that isn't training,"

Lua smiled brightly at her trainer, "**It's pleasant to see you with such an happy expression,**"

Ash flushed at the compliment immediately turning away from the large dragon, "Yeah, yeah whatever.. let's get going," he waved it off.

Both the pokémon giggled at their trainers embarrassed expression, it was rare to see him like this, but perhaps they would see it a lot more from now on...

* * *

During their journey towards the always near Victory Road, they had to make a few detours. Since you can't really compete in one of the largest leagues in scraps for clothes.

The trainer and pokémon landed in a small forest at the west side of Viridian City, seeing as landing in the middle of a city on a Lugia wouldn't be the brightest of ideas.

"You wouldn't mind being in your pokéball for an hour or two, would you Lua?" questioned Ash.

"**Ofcourse not, i don't see it as an unpleasant experience like another pokémon i know,**" she answered.

"Hey! Those are creepy, they suck you into them and stuff!" Pikachu said while shivering.

The trainer and legendary smiled at their small yellow friend, he truly was one of a kind.

"Oh well, i'll have to go buy a few new things, get in the backpack buddy," Ash said.

"Like the good old days.." Pikachu sighed and jumped into the dark green backpack.

The raven-haired trainer returned his white dragon-like pokémon to her respective red and white sphere and set off towards Viridian City.

He was walking through the small forest at a slow pace, taking in the scenery before drifting off into his thoughts, 'I wonder how things have changed since i've last been here..'

His questions and ponderings didn't last long however as he noticed a few houses in the distance. The man hurried his steps until he was just at the last patch of bushes.

The trainer pushed his way through the last part of green resistance until he got a view of the city. 'Wow...' he thought, 'Absolutely nothing has changed.."

Sighing, he headed straight for where he knew there was a few clothing shops. Traveling with girls in his journeys sure made him remember a few shopping places, though maybe that wasn't as much of a memory as it was a scar for life.

He stopped outside of a rather ordinary looking clothing store, it wasn't all that big, a few glass windows showcasing the clothing they were selling, a semi-large entrance.

'Guess this'll do..' was his only though as he stepped into store.

A small bell rang as soon as he stepped into the store. Immediately a rather petite looking woman came out and said with a cheery voice, "Welcome to-" that was until she laid her eyes upon the rather hideous looking man that entered "..Viridian City's clothing store.."

Ash eyed the woman with amusement at her change in tone after witnessing him, "Anything i can help you with?" the woman asked rather cautiously.

"Ah, yes," the trainer started, "I'd wish to look at your latest collection of traveling clothing," he answered.

"I see," the woman sighed, "Follow the path right in front of you and turn right, it should be there,".

"Thank you," the trainer responded with, following the woman's instructions he arrived at a rather small corner of the shop, featuring various clothing.

The raven-haired man looked through the clothing for a few minutes before setting his sights on a pair of gray jeans. 'This'll work i guess..' he thought, grabbing the piece of clothing.

Ash kept looking for awhile longer before giving up on his search for other pieces like shirts and the like. The young man walked back to the counter and sighed, "Miss, would you be so kind in giving me some advice on traveling clothing?" he asked.

The woman looked abit taken back by his request but complied none the less, "As you wish," she started, "But how about you let me choose the clothes?" she said as she snatched the pair of jeans from the trainers grip.

Ash shook his head in amusement, "As long as i won't look worse then i do now," moving away a few strands of hair from his eyes.

The woman turned around and stared at the trainer, "Believe me hun, you can't," a smile forming on her lips.

Ash only chuckled in response.

"Would you mind picking out everything while i go to the barber shop?" Ash asked.

"Alright then, just be back within an hour," she answered.

With that the trainer walked out of the store.

* * *

The sound of a bell rang in the air as a man stepped into the clothing store.

A petite looking woman walked to the cashier and turned to face the person who entered, she started greeting the man with a cheery voice, "Welcome to-" but her breath hitched in her throat when she laid her eyes on the man who had entered the store, "Viridian City's clothing store," she choked out.

The man turned to look at her with his chocolate brown eyes and gave a small smile as he walked up to the counter, "I'm here to pick up the clothes selected for me, miss," the man said with amusement written all over his face.

Blushing, the woman squeaked out a tiny, "Yes, give me a second.." before leaving the counter to go fetch the clothes.

Ash was trying very hard to swallow down the laughter that was threathening to leave his mouth, the face of that woman had been priceless.

'I guess seeing me without the beginning of a beard and hair that isn't in my eyes is too much of a shock..' he thought, smiling to himself.

The trainer ran his hand through his now shorter hair, he still had his bangs which stopped around the length above his eyes, though he thought it seemed fine.

"Here are your clothes, sir," the woman interrupted Ash from his thoughts.

"Ah, thank you," he answered, giving her a small smile as he looked down at the clothes she'd picked out.

A pair of blue jeans, black undershirt, a red and white hoodie aswell as a pair of white sneakers. 'It looks alright i suppose..' he thought.

"How much?" the trainer asked, looking up from his clothes only to be met by the same color on his possibly new hoodie, this time on the womans face.

The petite looking cashier just kept staring straight at Ash, and to be honest it made him abit uncomfortable. He quickly snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"**Waah!**" the cashier tumbled backwards and landed on her behind harshly, the trainer once again trying to stiffle down a laugh.

The trainer offered her a hand along with a smile, the woman gratefully took the hand and lifted herself up.

"That'll be.. 4000 Pokédollars sir," the cashier finally answered.

Ash rummaged through his pockets and eventually pulled up a wallet, taking out the needed amount of money.

"There you go. You wouldn't mind if i changed here right?" the man asked.

The woman smiled and gestured towards the changing booths in the far left corner of the store.

Ash nodded his thanks as he proceeded to go change.

* * *

The trainer stepped out of the store, dressed in his newly bought clothing. 'It doesn't look all that bad i guess..' he thought as he sighed, 'Not that i have an eye for fashion anyways.'

Ash wandered back to the grassy patch he had landed on before, pulling out his small friend out of his backpack and released Lua from her pokéball.

He scratched the legendary under her chin before jumping up on her back,

"Let's go Lua, to the **Indigo** **Plateau!**"

**Thanks for making it this far, seeing as english isn't my native language i'd really like some feedback on my grammar and such. I feel like i made Ash have abit too much moodswings but i guess that can be fixed later if that's the case.  
**

**How and why he can talk to pokémon and more of the backstory behind his training will be featured in later chapters.**

**The next chapter will be out in the coming two weeks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of it's characters.**

**A Charred Memory: Chapter 2**

* * *

"Lua, land over there!" the trainer pointed at a secluded and rather small grassy patch next to the Indigo Plateau building itself.

The legendary started to descend and answered with "**As you wish,**" landing safely and unspotted among the trees and bushes. Ash jumped off the dragon's back and started walking towards the legendary, scratching her under her chin, "Thank you for flying us, Lua," the trainer smiled.

"**It was my pleasure,**" she simply answered with, Ash smiled slighty in response and proceeded to let out all of his pokémon, including Pikachu from his backpack.

"Well guys, we're here," the raven-haired man announced, his pokémon looking around the area with both excitement and surprise. Venasaur slumped down on his stomach muttering something along the lines of 'Sweet sweet grass.. never leave me again..'

The others seemed to be either running around or doing as their plant-like friend. It was nice to see all the pokémon like this for Ash, they had always been so serious about training and he could never really fully give them the break and playtime they deserved. Although as much as he hated to do this, other things had to be done at this moment.

"Listen up," the trainer started, gaining the attention of all the pokémon, "You will all search for a more secluded area, try to find something that atleast has any source of water nearby," the group of six nodded and began to dash off.

"Not so fast," Ash laughed, grabbing Pikachu before the little yellow mouse could run away, "You're coming with me buddy," he said while smiling.

"OH COME ON," the small mouse whined, Ash only laughed at his friends misfortune, "You gotta keep me safe after all, get in the backpack buddy, " Ash said.

"Oh Arceus.." Pikachu sighed, jumping into the dark green backpack once again.

* * *

Ash started walking towards his destination, admiring the view of the forest he was presented. He occasionally stopped and took a few breaths of the fresh air, looking at a few pokémon running by, it had been long since he had such a pleasant experience. Up on the mountain he rarely had time for pleasant times to himself as all that was on his mind was, in fact training.

Seeing the building he was searching for coming into vision, he decided to hurry up in his pace. The building itself was larger and perhaps more grand then he had remembered, he scouted the outsides of the building for familiar faces but to his luck, there weren't any, though that didn't mean that the place wasn't quite packed with people.

Going towards the grand entrance, he sighed scanning the building up and down, "Guess we're back.." he murmured quietly to himself as he stepped in front of the structure.

Deciding to go in, he was met with a sea people. 'Just my luck..' the trainer thought sighing once again, he scanned the insides of the building.

He noticed the insides hadn't changed all too drasticly during the seven years he had been away. Waiting chairs and sofas, big screens showing each of the on-going matches, the pokémon center and last but not least the league registration counter.

Knowing that there wasn't any on-going matches at this moment he decided to head towards the registration counter. To his surprise and confusion he noticed that the queue for the registrations was rather empty. There was only a single trainer before him, although this trainer was rather short.

He could only briefly hear what the other trainer was saying as he inched just abit closer, "I'd like to register, Max Maple from Petalburg City," the short boy said as he handed the registration lady his pokédex.

Ash stopped dead in his tracks at this name, trying to conjure several methods of escaping as fast as possible , he needed to get out of here quick before he gets recognized or worse when he's recognized, the short boy screams.

During the trainer's wild idea crafting the rather short boy, who had just finished his registration bumped into Ash, knocking the boy down on his behind.

"Ahh shit," was the only thing heard from the short boy as the pulled himself up to his feet and quickly picked up his dropped items off of the floor, moving his gaze towards the man who he had bumped into, he was met with a man who's cap was hiding his eyes.

Max bowed politely, "Excuse me for bumping into you sir," before nodding a slight goodbye, and unknown to Ash hurrying his way towards a rather familiar group in the far right corner of the room.

'That.. was way too close for my taste..' he thought as he breathed out shakily.

Ash stepped up to the registration counter and only handed in his pokédex to the lady. She looked at the pokédex with a frown on her face, "Isn't this a very old model, sir?"

The trainer just smiled, "It is, miss,", the lady looked at him for a minute before sighing and started scanning the pokédex.

Once the whole scanning process was done, she handed him his rather old pokédex and Ash attempted to make his leave. "Not so fast!" was heard from the registration lady.

Ash looked over his shoulder and saw that she had gestured him to come forward. The trainer complied and slowly made his way towards the registration counter again.

"You're gonna be accompanied to the President floor," said the lady, gesturing towards the now rather bulky man standing beside him.

Ash scanned the man before shaking his head in disbelief 'What could they possibly want now?', the trainer looked towards the lady, "Any reason for me visiting the president floor?".

"A friend of yours wish to see you," the lady answered, a small smile forming on her lips.

"A friend of mine?" he started, "Just lead me the way.." sighing as he nodded towards the bulky man that was supposed to lead him.

After surviving probably the most awkward elevator ride of his life, Ash was lead towards a rather grand door simply labeld 'President', the trainer looked towards the man that had escorted him and pointed towards the door as if saying, 'Should i really go in?'.

The man only nodded and walked away, placing himself next to the elevator they had arrived from.

Ash, trying to atleast be polite knocked on the door, "Come in!" was heard through the door in a rather low voice, one that the trainer immediately recognized.

'Oh Arceus.. not him..' was his only thought as he opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

"My, guess i can't call you 'kid' anymore now can i, Ash?" was heard from a rather chubby man.

Ash only looked at the man with a neutral expression, not making a single move as he stood before the rather grand table the man was sitting behind.

"You're probably wondering why i'm the president here, right?" the man started, chuckling quietly, "Due to the long time period between the league tournaments, the position is changed quite frequently," the man rose from his chair and slowly made his way around the table, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder.

The trainer only looked at the man, still with the same neutral expression.

"Of course that means that i've had to leave my previous position, you remember those old times, right Ash?" the man chuckled slightly.

Ash shrugged the hand off of his shoulder and continued to stare at the familiar man before him. Something wasn't right with this little meeting.

"Now that we've got that information aside, how have you been since the last tournament?" he started, "Been keeping up with the training?" he finished as the went and slumped down on the couch in the large room.

Ash remained standing where he had originally been, his gaze still locked on the other person present in the room.

"I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly meeting, is it **Scott**?" Ash questioned.

"Champ's finally talking," the man smiled, "And no, sadly this is something i've been requested to do ever since the last tournament's end." he finished.

"And that particular request involves exactly what?" the trainer growled, getting impatient.

"Hey, i'm not the bad guy here, just the messenger!" he put his hands up in a slight defense posture, "Though i do have one request myself," he smiled.

"Of course you do Scott, you always do.." Ash sighed, taking off his cap and running a hand through his hair.

The man got up from the couch and walked over to his desk and chair once again, taking a seat. "This is a request from the league itself and is mandatory for you to listen too, Ash," Scott said.

Ash stared at the familiar figure as he took the seat in front of the desk, sitting down and crossing his legs, "I'm all ears," the trainer simply stated.

"I've been given the task to inform you of the legal outcome of the league tournament finals incident you were the victim of, " he started, "Seeing as you vanished right after your companion was declared dead," his face remaining rather calm as he had spoken these words.

Ash's fist clenched and unclenched at his last sentence, 'Is he insinuating i'm a coward?..' the trainer thought. "Go on," was the only thing Ash growled out.

"As you may know, a pokémon's death in a league isn't too unnatural given the circumstances and battles they're put through," the man looked at the trainer with a serious expression, "However, it is a crime to deal a killing blow towards a pokémon during a league battle, more so towards such a top-tier pokémon your companion was," he finished.

'Where's he going with this?' was Ash only though as he simply continued to stare at the man, not making any signs of questioning what he has heard so far.

"A pokémon of Charizard's caliber makes it a rather easy task to determine if it has fainted or not," the man started,"However the referee present at yours and the Sinnoh champions battle's vision was obscured of your companion aswell as the Garchomp he was facing," his hand moving to his eyebrows as they were furrowed seeming as if the man was in deep thought.

"The reason for his vision to be blocked was simply due to the smoke created by both of the pokémons attacks colliding, though as you may know if you'd have beaten the Sinnoh champion in that battle, you would have had recieved an invitation to challenge the Elite Four of your region of choice, " he explained.

Ash nodded slighty, he had been informed of such an invite in the semi-finals. He figured it was to make the fact that an Elite Four challenge invitation was at stake, a secret.

"This simple fact, seeing as it is very hard to recieve such an invitation without a league victory, makes you a rather intimidating opponent. This is what we believed was at stake when the current Sinnoh champion commanded her Pokémon's last action," the man breathed in and out audibly.

Ash looked at the man with his same neutral expression as before, however on the inside his blood was boiling with rage. How could someone not hesitate in such a moment? How could you be heartless enough to **execute** a pokémon so harshly? 'Even if it's for such a reason, it's wrong.' Ash thought bitterly.

"Though, according to the Sinnoh champion herself she claimed that it was an accident, that her vision was disturbed by the same smoke that clouded the ref's vision. When we reviewed our recordings of the match, we found her reasoning to be a possibility," Scott explained.

"**What?**" Ash rose from his chair and walked over to the table in front of him, slamming his hands down on the table itself, "**Are you saying she's innocent for KILLING my friend?**" he growled out, staring straight at Scott. Pikachu, who had been in the backpack this entire time, put his head out of the opening, looking at the scene before him, cheeks filled with sparks of electricity.

Scott only stared at the trainer before him, "You didn't let me finish, sit down," he stated simply. Ash eyed the man for a minute before he felt his Pikachu get way too annoyed. This made him reluctantly sit down in his chair again, now glaring daggers at the said President of the 7th Pokémon League.

"However, even if such an action is an accident or not, punishment had to be given. And there is by no means an easy punishment for killing a pokémon in a league," he started, breathing in and out deeply, "The punishments that was said to be issued in such a case is mostly a money related punishment, now you might be thinking Ash, that isn't so harsh for what she did, right?" Scott asked rather calmly.

"It's nowhere near of what i would expect as a punishment for such a cruel act," answered Ash, his eyes narrowing, "Where are you going with this, Scott?"

"The fee itself was discussed for weeks after the finals, no one could be entirely sure of it being an accident or intentional, mostly cause of the lack of proof," he started, "However, after adding that it might be a likely intentional killing blow, the fee got quite an increase aswell as several smaller punishments were issued on top of this," he finished, looking at Ash still staring straight at him.

"I don't see the reason in telling me these unneeded details, get to the point," the trainer stated, staring back at Scott.

"I do believe they're not unneeded, Ash," he answered, giving a slight smile.

"May i ask why?" Ash questioned.

"The fee was itself was increased from the previous 550,000 Pokédollars to 980,000 Pokédollars,", he sighed, "Along with such a fee, the other punishments issued by the league were simply that she would not recieve the prize money for winning the league itself, she is also forced to participate in all of the rounds for the next league she enters, instead of dropping in during the quarter finals like previous winners," the man leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

"So that's what happend.." Ash started, only to be interrupted by Scott.

"That's not the only thing that happend, Ash," he simply answered, now keeping his gaze on the young man before him.

"What do you mean, 'not the only thing'?" Ash sighed, "Anything else that happend?" he questioned.

"Due to the overwhelming fee and the withdrawal of the prize money, the Sinnoh champions bank account got pretty much wiped clean," the man gave a small smile, "She couldn't pay her fees and had to end up selling her then at the time house. Resulting in her i believe, living with a relative as of this moment," Scott finished.

Ash shook his head with a small smile forming on his lips, 'This still isn't enough..' he once again thought bitterly.

"Well Ash, now that we've got all that boring stuff aside, how about we go into my request?" the chubby man chuckled.

Ash only smiled slightly, "Go for it,"

* * *

"You, in all seriousness, wish for me to compete as an unnamed trainer?" the raven-haired man asked in shock.

"Not necessarily without a name, unless you'd wish. Wouldn't be all that hard to get arranged by the league," the man said while smiling brightly.

Sighing, the trainer got his backpack off of his back. He lifted out his yellow friend and carefully sat him in his lap, this whole scene caused confusion for the said president but he didn't question it.

"Hey buddy, you've heard it all, what do you want?" Ash asked his starter.

The yellow mouse was pondering over it for quite abit before speaking up, "You should totally compete without a name," the mouse started excitedely, "You'd be like a legendary in human form!" the mouse said while relocating to his head.

Ash only chuckled at his friends excitement over something so trivial.

"So," Scott started, "What did Pikachu say?" he asked with a confused expression although a small smile was present on the mans face.

"He said i should go without a name," the trainer said with a thoughtful expression.

"How would this affect the other trainers i'd battle and how would you present it, Scott?" the trainer asked. Ash was very interested on how all of this would play out, it'd been a long time since he'd had a real battle experience and to be able to come back like some phantom trainer would be a quite a odd but hopefully humorous experience.

Scott brightened up at the question, "You'd be presented as one of the elites by the league, though the elite itself will not be given the information about your name and such, a few selected judges will have to be informed though, " he answered.

"Hnn.." the trainer grunted out. 'This would probably be more interesting then me just going in and battling as myself, though it would delay a few things for me..' he thought.

"Alright, i'm up for it," the trainer responded, giving a small smile which was quickly returned by Scott, "However, how am i going to be introduced to the elites and the league itself?" he asked curiously.

"Oh don't worry, you're gonna attend a meeting after this chat, with all of the other elites, " he responded calmly.

"All of them?" Ash said with his expression now neutral.

"Yes, **all** of them," Scott repeated, smiling brightly.

Sighing, Ash put his cap back on his head, "Guess i don't have much of a choice, now do i?" he asked.

"Not really, no," the other man chuckled, rising from his chair and walking over to the door.

"Shall we get going then? It's starting in just a few minutes," Scott explained, smiling at the young trainer.

The trainer rose from his chair and walked up to the chubby man, "Don't blaim me if i do something very stupid," he simply stated, walking past the man and out the door.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Scott chuckled as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

The grand hall they had just entered a few floors down was packed with people Ash easily recognized, a few Elite Four members, top-tier gymleaders, known trainers and ofcourse a few champions to top it all off.

It was an impressive group and would provide him with some challenge, this looked to shape up towards a rather interesting league.

Ash looked around the room for abit, making sure his cap was hiding his eyes, he didn't want to get recognized by anyone though he did doubt they would even without his cap.

However, he didn't seem to find what he was looking for as he scanned room, with a sigh he leaned against the wall in the far right corner of the room.

Everyone seemed to be chatting amongst themselves in small groups, a few small groups of gymleaders and trainers were talking fiercly and passionately about the upcoming tournament, announcing their victory prematurely.

Ash could only grin at this, they were way too naive to be called the Elite.

Perhaps the term 'Elite' wasn't suited for this gathering, or if the word was at all suited for any of the trainers currently here.

The trainer was broken out of his ponderings as the man they all had been waiting for made his entrance, "Sorry for the delay my friends, but i had to atleast make sure our previous winner was here," he said with a suitable grin.

Scott stepped out of the way of the door and continued to walk where everyone had gathered, behind him however, a young blond woman stepped out of the doorway and followed the chubby man to where he was heading.

Ash froze as he saw the womans figure walk in the room.

There she was walking as casually as ever, the person who had caused him undescribable pain and suffering, more nightmares then he could count and last but not least, loneliness.

To say the least, the trainer had a very strong urge to go over to the woman and end her for good. However, he wasn't here to do such a thing and it wouldn't suit as a sufficient punishment.

Such punishment would only bring a slight moment of suffering, what he wanted for her was a lifetime of it.

The trainer eyed the pair that was walking towards his side of the room, the duo made it into the middle of the right side of the room. Both sat down in their respective seats and motioned for everyone to do the same around them.

Ash however, stayed where he was, leaning against the wall. He didn't feel the need to sit down when he was going to leave so soon either, a waste of time as most would say.

When most were seated, a bright smile was present on Scott's face.

"Welcome," he said in his cheerful way, "It's a pleasure to see so many top-tier trainers in one room," he started, eyeing most of the people around him, "Most of you present here have been in several previous installments of this league, however i can guarrantee that this time, it will be very different," Scott finished.

A low murmur was present in the room, most were throwing questioning glances to the one seated next to them or towards the widely grinning man in the center.

"As for what will be different, you will all, if i've calculated everything correctly, atleast fight seven or eight of your fellow elites if you so happen to make it towards the semi-finals," he said excitedely.

Once again, people were very confused by this turn of events as the groups and placements in the league itself was usually randomzied. Most were starting to show worrying expressions.

"The reason for this little meeting is simple," he started, grinning like mad, "You'll all be placed in pairs of two in each preliminary group," he finished, his grin never leaving his face.

A few well heard outburts of 'What?' was heard through out the trainers that had been gathered for this meeting, most eyeing eachother in shock, fear and mostly horror.

No one really enjoyed going up versus a strong trainer even if they had confidence they were superior, a league is an unprediactable thing, people bring out their best strategies and are in their top form.

It's scary to be versus anyone that rivals yourself.

However, Ash wore a grin that rivaled Scott's.

He had been longing for challenges even since he first started up on Mt. Silver, and now he could fully show seven years worth of training put into full use.

"There's nothing to fear about getting eliminated unless you show that you are not worth your title as an elite in this league, the groups themselves will have eight participants and only four of those will advance towards the later rounds," he started, breathing in and out slowly, "The reason for four spots is mostly due to that two non-elite will have a chance atleast, though i highly doubt it, it will however be a pleasant surprise if one of you gets thrashed," he finished as he smiled brightly at everyone present.

Some breathed sighs of reliefs while others looked even more horrified, getting beaten by a non-elite would ensure yourself losing your title, most wore this title with pride and a small group of people wore it with disgust.

Ash was one of them right now, even in the last league he had an elite spot as he had proved himself worthy in other small leagues apart from this one.

He hated the title with passion, it was simply a title to show off and that wasn't what the man wanted.

Back then and still now, he loved the thrill of battling pokémon as much as playing with them, and getting viewed as a monster and ruthless battler because of what he loved, let's just say he wasn't pleased.

"However, i have to bring up some rather disheartening news to you all, " Scott explained, his smile getting gradually smaller.

"Since the incident in the last years finals," he began, watching everyone tense up, "Ash Ketchum is still missing, where he is or weither he is still alive is unknown, however that means his spot needs to be filled, " Scott finished seriously.

Most were looking down towards their feet, while some were having pondering expressions.

Cynthia however, seemed to fake a brave facade as Ash noticed her hands were slightly trembling as they were placed on her thigh.

Ash only stared at her figure with a blank expression, a few words came to mind when he watched her small frame, 'Weak' was one of em, the woman looked nowhere near the proud and elegant female who he had once battled before.

"And that's why i'm gonna bring up some stuff fun stuff for you all," he started, "On another hand it might just be funny for me alone," he chuckled, his tone completely changed from his serious one.

"We're gonna have an unknown elite take part in the 7th Pokémon League, which means you will not know his name aswell as his team or past experiences," Scott finished, smiling as brightly as ever.

"**What?!**" was exclaimed amongst the trainers present in the room, most people eyeing Scott with shock. Confusion and surprise are two suitable words to describe the mood in the room, most people were furiously shouting at Scott to reveal the name of the trainer.

Scott only waved the attempts off as he wore his trademark grin, "That would take the fun out of it, wouldn't it?" he stated, chuckling lightly.

Most trainers in the room groaned in annoyance. Now there was even more things to fear in the league, some unknown elite no one has any knowledge of.

"I understand your frustrations, however i'll make it abit easier for you," he started, everyones eyes switching their gaze towards the chubby man, "He's in the room right now," Scott was grinning with childlike glee as he said this.

An earpiercing "**WHAT?!**" was heard, and probably could be heard for several floors up and down.

"Oh i'm gonna kill that man," Ash sighed out in annoyance.

"In fact, he's right over there," Scott laughed out, pointing towards Ash's direction.

'Oh now i'm really gonna kill him..' Ash thought bitterly.

The scene of simultaneous heads turning around aswell as a piercing stare, gave Ash quite a bad feeling about what Scott had just done to him.

Everything was dead silent for several minutes as people just eyed the man with a cap hiding his eyes, leaning against a wall.

That was, until one of the younger trainers mustered out a loud enough "He doesn't seem all that strong," ,a low murmur of agreement came along.

Ash looked towards where he had heard it and saw a young boy with blonde hair.

The raven-haired trainer only started chuckling softly, but it was the only thing that was heard in the rather quiet room.

"What's so funny?" the young boy asked in annoyance.

"The fact that i'd sweep your team with a single pokémon," Ash replied, still chuckling.

A murmur broke out in the room, most of it containing words such as 'Liar' aswell as 'Cocky', Ash only started smiling widely at those words.

"You over-confident asshole!" the boy growled out, "I'll battle you right now!".

Some people eyed the scene in amusement, Scott one of them, although most were just watching it with annoyance written all over their faces.

"Lets wait until the league kid. That is, if you can get far enough," Ash started, grinning, "However, i believe we should finish this meeting, shouldn't we Scott?" The trainer eyed the man with furious eyes.

However, such a glare did nothing to the smiling man. The young boy was about to respond when he was cut off by Scott, "And so we shall," the man started, the boy taking his seat with a furious glare set on Ash.

"Now that we've got everything of that settled, I'd wish to go into the details of the Elite pairs that will be in each group,"

* * *

**This chapter didn't turn out how i'd thought it would and it might seem abit boring due to all the conversational stuff. However it's all part of the build-up towards what i have planned for this story.**

**Thanks for the amazing response on the first chapter and i hope this chapter atleast isn't all that terrible.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters.**

**A Charred Memory: Chapter 3**

* * *

Ash was bored to say the least.

He had been forced to listen to Scott announce the elite pairs going into each group for the last 30 minutes.

You'd think he'd be done after 20 pairs right? 40 people paired up, that should be enough, right?..

Nope. He still wasn't done, the chubby man was nearing the 35 pair mark, and Arceus was it taking its toll on him, but it didn't seem like he was the only exhausted one, everyone around the room seemed to be ready to fall asleep.

Even though it was like that, there were still the few newer elites who listened on intently, acting as if they'd miss something, they'd lose in their first battle.

Such a thing might be true for the more calculating trainers that didn't rely on raw strength, but there were few of them present in this room currently.

Ash was one of the few calculating trainers, yet he like many still relied on the strength and speed of his pokémon. Though this doesn't mean no one except few uses strategies, it was far from such a thing.

Though the only reason he wasn't listening right now was simply due to the fact that he could easily view the groups and pairings later on in the lobby, where he could get a full view of everything and in his own pace.

"And our 39th pair is Champion Lance aswell as Gym-leader Sabrina of Saffron," Scott announced grinning like always.

"Why do i have to face the Psychic Gym-leader of all people?" a sigh escaped Lance's mouth, "Freaky psychic woman," he muttered.

"What did you call me, Lance?" Sabrina asked in a eeriely calm manner.

"Uhh.. n-nothing, i swear," was stuttered out by the Champion, his hands up in a defensive posture.

"Liars don't get very far by-" she started, until she was interrupted by a loud cough.

"I could assign both of you to the same room if you'd wish to continue your bickering," Scott simply stated, glaring down on the Champion and Gym-leader.

"Uh.. I'll pass," Lance sighed out and looked over to Sabrina glaring at him even harder, "N-not that i'd mind," he stuttered out.

Sabrina sighed, "Scott, just finish this up already," gesturing for the chubby man to continue.

"Gladly," he answered, "Now that we've got the 39th pair down we've reached the last pair of this league's elites," Scott was grinning once again with child-like glee when he announced this.

'Didn't think we'd battle so soon..' Ash thought as he glanced over at the blonde woman sitting next to the chubby man.

"The 40th and last pair is Champion Cynthia and our newly added elite," he finished, still maintaining his now softening grin. Though it seemed as if he was staring straight as Ash as he announced the pair, but the raven-haired trainer couldn't be all too sure as the man turned to the current Champion of the Sinnoh Region.

"I hope you'll take care of our new elite ,Cynthia," Scott started with Cynthia nodding in response,"Now that we've got all the pairs announced i'd wish for the pairs to get reacquainted with eachother, seeing as most of you hardly ever contact eachother," Scott chuckled.

"Although this doesn't mean you'll be forced to talk with your opponent, but it'd be nice to see you all mingle around for atleast a short time," he finished.

Several groans of annoyance was heard but no one seemed to protest about mingling with their fellow elites.

The before near silent room was now buzzing with activity from the other elites, going to almost uncomfortable levels, much to Ash's chagrin.

Though Ash's annoyance was short-lived as it soon turned into fury, "Bet Scott hadn't informed you of what he was supposed to do," was heard in a feminine voice.

Ash turned to the all too familiar voice, although it sounded abit more.. adult then he remembered. The trainer simply glared at the woman, his fists clenching and unclenching by his sides.

The woman seemed to take no notice of this as she tucked a few locks of blonde hair behind her ear, "I'm guessing that cause of the shocked look on your face when he announced it," she continued, her voice insinuating that she already had a small smile plastered on her face.

Cynthia leaned against the wall next to Ash, looking out over crowded room, "Too much people huh?" she simply question if not stated.

Ash only gave her a glare that she seemed to be completely oblivious or ignorant of, adding quite nicely to the trainers already growing anger.

Cynthia frowned at the lack of answer from the raven-haired trainer, "Not much of a talker?" she questioned, "There's quite alot of no-talk-only-battle people among the elites, acting as if they're better then everyone else," she added, looking out over the sea of people.

"Maybe you'd actually talk if i'd introduce myself, cause i'm not quite sure if you've heard of me or not," the woman smiled slightly, shifting in her position against the wall.

'Oh i've heard of you alright..' Ash thought bitterly.

She wore a sincere smile as she got off the wall and stood up to face Ash directly, "The name's Cynthia Shirona, i'm looking forward to battling you and your pokémon," she brought forth her hand, expecting the mysterious trainer to do the same.

Instead the trainer only started laughing loudly, "Looking forward to battling me and my pokémon?" the man chuckled out, swatting her hand away from himself, "**Don't you mean looking forward to kill them?**" Ash asked coldly, staring straight at the Sinnoh Champion.

Cynthia's eyes widened at the question, staring straight back at the trainer with shock written all over her face.

With him now facing her, she could see the mans eyes. They seemed black under the caps shadow, althought they probably weren't black naturally, it was still a rather disturbing sight.

"I-It.." the champion tried to answer before being interrupted by Ash, "Let me guess, 'It's not like that'?"

Cynthia looked away from the man, her frame shaking slightly trying to maintain her calm composure, "Don't waste your breath on unneeded details, Cynthia," Ash started, "Save it for the battle, I'm looking forward to it," he gave her an eerie smile.

"But lets hope that it isn't too early, it'd sadden me to kill your confidence too soon into the tournament," Ash added, standing up from his position against the wall.

Before slowly making his way out of the room, he stopped next to Cynthia, "It's adorable to see you like this," Ash whispered softly, smiling slightly.

As Cynthia felt the trainers breath against her ear a shiver ran through her body, her attempts to keep herself dignified in front of the trainer was beginning to get more tiring as all she heard was the sound of footsteps getting gradually quieter and more distant behind her.

* * *

After a few minutes and quite a few unsteady steps Cynthia finally got herself out of the grand hall.

She breathed out a shaky sigh as she walked towards the elevator, replaying what had just been said.

Did he really have to bring up that of all things? Wasn't it enough for pretty much everyone to judge her based on the accident a few years back?

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 7th floor.

Cynthia leaned against the wall in the elevator, fast and shaky breathing was the only audible sound in the small elevator.

Why did she have to be so hopeful that a trainer wouldn't know of that accident? Why did she have to be naive enough to try and go find someone who wouldn't judge her?

The announcement of a new trainer among the elites gave her a small hint of hope, he looked like the type of person who wouldn't care about her past, it was a fantastic feeling to think that maybe someone would understand her in this damned building.

But he had put it more bluntly then anyone she had met. Most approached her with caution and dodged around the subject, most of the times this didn't go over the champions head and she knew what they wanted information about.

She always diverted their attempts of getting answers out of her, but this man, this trainer she had just met didn't let her defend herself even once.

Though it didn't feel like if she would've got a chance to say something against him, that it would've worked.

A soft plinging noise was heard as the elevator came to its stop.

The elevator doors opened and the blonde woman got out and slowly started walking towards her room, deep in thought.

'Why did it feel more accusing then before?' She thought, 'Why did it hurt so much when he put it so bluntly?'

As tears were threathning to come out, she walked slightly faster towards her destination, 'Damnit Cynthia, pull yourself together..' she thought encouragingly, her room coming into view.

She hastily unlocked the door to her rather large room, stepping inside as she closed the door behind her, 'Even Ash would've been disappointed seeing you like this..' she thought bitterly to herself. Her eyes widening as she realised who she had thought of.

'Ash..' she thought to herself, the raven-haired boy whos smile was as bright on any day, despite good times or bad times.

"Ash.." Cynthia sobbed out quietly as she slumped down against the wall inside of her room, tears now freely flowing down her pale cheeks, "I'm sorry.."

* * *

It was dark outside by the time Ash finally left the large building, it was a rather cold evening, though luckily Kanto hadn't been invaded by the snowstorms that lurked around the Johto and SInnoh regions.

Though that didn't seem to matter as the sky seemed to be clouded by all the small flakes slowly falling towards the ground.

Ash stood outside of the building, looking over the all too familiar weather, during his stay on top of Mt. Silver, such a weather was ever present during their training sessions.

It almost felt like home for Ash, just almost.

Though the snow itself was starting to cover up the green and brown patches of plants, it felt off. This place wasn't his home, it didn't feel like it. It felt fake.

'Though that place isn't my home either..' he thought bitterly, starting to walk towards the area where Lua had landed earlier.

It had been long since the raven-haired trainer had seen his mother, about five years to be exact. He had always tried to send letters with Lua every other week or month, though it was during the hardships of training that he missed her the most.

He could almost hear her words about him training too recklessly, that he should take a break.

Those thoughts stopped him from going over the line with training, and he was greatful for it. Yet he felt terrible, he hadn't done anything to make up for any of those moments, and he wished he could.

'After this is over.. i'll make sure to visit her and atleast stay for awhile..' he thought, imagining how such a reunion would take place.

He chuckled quietly to himself as he already heard his mother asking him if he had changed his underwear during his stay at the mountain.

The now white area where they had landed before came into sight, it looked familiar except a few minor details, for example, his companions wasn't there, they had probably already found a suitable spot.

Though now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn't the brightest of ideas to sleep outside in the cold weather, sure he had managed to get his fair share of resistance towards it during his stay on top of Mt. Silver, but sleeping out in the snow was something he had never considered, as on top of the mountain it would've been considered suicide.

And it probably would be suicide to sleep out here aswell.

An all too familiar present was gradually becoming stronger around the area, the trainer smiled to himself as he knew exactly who it was, though it was taking it's time getting to him, he knew that she were only making sure that they wouldn't be seen.

She had always been cautious ever since they had found her, even during training.

He had a feeling even during her first stays with them, that she knew that she was just abit more powerful then the others, Lugias didn't keep themselves hidden for nothing.

Even though she were careful, she had always excelled in battling, not just cause of raw power, but also due to the strategic mind paired up with her very viable typing.

A Flying/Psychic type.

The agility and aerial prowess of a flying type combined with the striking power and speed from a psychic type sure was something to be wary of.

This though, only made him happier that she had decided to stay with him.

"**Your thoughts are flattering,**" was heard in his head, he only smiled as he saw the familiar figure of Lua descend towards him, stopping right in front of him with grace.

"I'll take it that we're alone?" the trainer asked in a slightly teasing tone, clutching his hoddie around himself as the wind from her landing reached and enveloped him.

"**Assuming such a thing is only insulting,**" the legendary responded in her naturally calm voice.

"Right," the trainer smiled, "Where are the others?"

"**Mourning over the loss of greenery," **she answered, **"A rather sad sight,**"

Ash chuckled lightly, "I'll take it that Venasaur is the leader of that mourning?"

"**Most definitely,**" Lua answered with a smile.

Ash scanned the area with a neutral expression put on, "You six will have no problems being outside tonight, right?"

"**I would expect complaints from such a thing, other then that, yes,**"

"Hnn.." the trainer grunted out, "I can sadly not sleep in this weather, i'll have to check into the hotel inside of the League buildings or something," the trainer gave a half-hearted smile.

"**I believe the others would understand,**" the legendary answered calmly.

"I guess so," the trainer mused, "We have our first battle tomorrow though," he added.

"**Anything that needs to be prepared?**" the dragon asked calmly.

"Make sure Venasaur is atleast in decent shape, though i'd rather you have them all train," Ash responded, "Just because we're off the mountain doesn't mean i'll let up," he finished smiling.

The laughter of the legendary echoed in his head, a rather pleasant sound, "**I understand, i'll make sure that they're ready for tomorrow,**" she answered.

"Good, and with that, i believe i should take my leave," the trainer added, turning around, he walked towards where he had come from and waved a hand over his head as if waving goodbye.

He heard the legendary dragon-like creature take off with great speed as he continued to trek through the now snow covered greenery.

'Make sure you train aswell.' He added as an afterthought.

"**As i said, assuming such a thing is only insulting,**" was heard in his head not long after.

The trainer only chuckled and continued his walk towards the grand structures that was the Pokémon League buildings.

* * *

Ash was greeted with the sight of a cozy bed as he entered his given room, sure it was smaller then most rooms, but seeing as the man hadn't slept in a real bed for almost a decade, he couldn't care less.

The man threw down his backpack next to the desk inside of the room and sat down in the chair next to it, booting up the computer located inside of the room.

While watching the computer start up, he heard a very familiar sound of a backpack opening aswell as a groan.

"I swear.. getting thrown into the ground isn't the best way of waking up," the yellow creature sighed out, clutching his head in pain.

Ash put his palm to his face as he remembered his starter had been in the backpack, 'It's been way too long..' he thought, smiling lightly.

"Sorry buddy, i forgot you were in there, not used to carrying around a backpack for that matter, " the trainer said.

"I understand, just don't make it a habit," the mouse sighed once again, jumping up into his trainers lap.

"So what's up? What are you looking at?" Pikachu asked curiously, sitting down and snuggling himself into a cozy position.

"Oh nothing much, checking out our group in the league," Ash answered, petting the yellow mouse's head.

"Anyone interesting?" Pikachu asked as he leaned into the hand that was petting him.

"Her," the trainer simply stated, his gaze on the computer screen hardening.

"Her?" the yellow mouse asked before realizing, "Oh..." Pikachu breathed out, his look on the screen becoming almost identical to his trainer.

"Did you meet her?" the mouse asked, tilting his head up to look at his trainer.

"Yes, yes i did, how can you not know?" the trainer asked, giving a curious glance towards his starter.

The Pikachu shrugged, "I was sleeping," he stated, as if that answered everything.

And it did, "I see," the trainer chuckled out despite the foul mood he had been in.

The yellow rodent was a deep sleeper, even worse then Snorlax in their prime.

"We've got a match tomorrow," the trainer added with a grin, Pikachu's ears perked up as he listened intently, his hopes skyrocketing towards getting to be in the first match.

"It's versus a trainer with several ground types, though it's not the only thing he has," Ash explained, "Can't take the risk of using you or Exploud," he continued with a smile, "Even though i know you'd win,"

Pikachu's ears dropped in an instant and a sulking expression was brought to his face, "Yeah.. sure," he said in a disapointed manner, "So who's battling first?"

"I'm thinking either Venasaur or Blastoise, though i'm leaning more towards Venasaur," Ash explained.

The pokémon nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer though one thing was bothering him, "Hey.. doesn't this mean others can see Lua on those computer thingys?"

"Scott has pretty much hidden everything related to my pokémon," he explained,"Though i can ensure you he was pretty surprised when he saw her in our team," Ash chuckled out.

"Makes sense," the yellow mouse added with a yawn, his ears hanging lower, "Tired?" the raven-haired trainer asked with a smile.

"A tiny bit," Pikachu explained, making sure to portray just how tiny said bit of tiredness is with his tiny fingers.

"You should go sleep then buddy, i gotta finish checking things up on this guy, maybe abit more about the others in our group aswell," Ash explained, his starter only nodded and turned on his back, resting against his trainer.

'That wasn't what i meant with sleeping..' the trainer thought with a sigh, 'Oh well..'.

With that, Ash continued to study his coming oppositions pokémon long into the night.

* * *

A tired Ash Ketchum decided to wake up abit too early today, though that didn't seem to stop the 22 year olds excitement over his coming battle.

To say he was prepared was an understatement, his late night studying sure had paid off, he had a pretty good understanding over what his opponent could send out versus Venasaur, though for this to happen, he had to have luck on his side.

Mostly due to the type of fields that are randomized and the order who lets out his pokémon first.

Ash felt like he would have the best chance in the water field, even though Venasaur would lack in mobility, he was pretty sure that the grass pokémon would make up for that with enourmous power and a few tricks they've developed involving snow, hopefully it'd work just as well with water.

He hadn't trained em for seven years for nothing.

The trainer stepped out of his room and locked the door behind him, making sure to place his keys securely in his backpack, though it seemed like Pikachu was very fond of clutching things in his sleep, he grabbed the keys immediatly and snuggled up against em. Ash only smiled faintly.

Ash walked through the hallway deep in thought, scanning the paintings and furniture, most of em rather bizarre looking in his opinion, 'What's wrong with artists these days?..' he wondered as he examined a few of them a little bit closer.

Shrugging, he continued his walk but his thoughts sadly didn't continued his train of thoughts, his mind was starting to replay last night all over again.

The look on her face was one of pure confusion and hurt as he had walked out of that grand hall, he couldn't even begin to imagine what could've happend afterwards.

Had people noticed her after that? Had they heard them talk? His head was starting to ache.

Just seeing her made his whole body hurt, the memories replay in his head.

Charizard falling towards the ground, his screaming, the pool of blood under his friend.

And her. He could feel his heart beat even harder in agony.

Ash pressed the button for the elevator, he shifted his gaze down towards the ground, closing his eyes shut, 'I hate her..' was the only thing ringing in his head.

The pling of the elevator coming to a stop brought him out of his thoughts and he opened his eyes just as the elevator doors were opening.

Brown meets Gray.

Ash swore his heart stopped as he saw who was inside the elevator, and she was staring at him with the same type of expression.

* * *

A tired mess of blonde hair could be made out on the bed of Cynthia's hotel room, said mess of blonde hair made several groaning noises as her alarm clock went off.

Why she had set it so early she had no memory of, but even so, she doubted she could fall asleep again anyways.

Dragging herself up from the bed, a tired Cynthia made her way to the bathroom with slow and tired foot steps.

Opening the bathroom door, she was met with the bright shine of the apparently lit lights in the room. Groaning as he shielded her eyes briefly to get used to the light she thought back to day before.

She could recall herself sobbing uncontrollably in various places, floor, bed and she had a faint memory of herself taking a clumsy shower.

Now that she could see better, she confirmed that she did indeed, take a very clumsy shower. The floor of the bathroom could probably be a cleaning pool for the smaller kind of pokémon.

Sighing, she put a few towels over the floor as she was too tired to completely clean it up, besides that's what the cleaning staff in the hotel is supposed to do.

She looked at herself in the mirror for a slight second in the corner of her eye, she could make out a very messy haired self.

Cynthia turned to the mirror to examine herself fully, she were still wearing yesterdays clothes, her hair sticking out to all sorts of places, but what really bothered her, was her red and swollen eyes.

She recalled the night before, the trainer she had met who had put it so bluntly that it'd left her frozen on the spot. How could anyone be so forward about something like that?

She sighed as she remembered what the trainer had told her, '**Don't you mean looking forward to kill them?**', the woman stared at herself in the mirror, contemplating over those words.

Did she know what could've happened in that final battle? Should she have been more careful?

The scene started playing over and over again in her head, the boys frantic screams for his friend to get up, the near silent audience and worst of all, what he had said to her.

'**YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM US!**'

A few tears could be seen running down the womans pale cheeks as she kept remembering everything. She had killed a pokémon, a friends pokémon no less.

She hadn't even had the chance to apologize fully before he vanished.

The few people that still actually cared about her and could look past that accident had told her to visit the Ash's mother.

She had thought over the idea, but she couldn't bring herself to actually go and do it, what if she blamed her for her son disappearing? Who was she kidding? Ofcourse she would.

Cynthia gave out a shaky sigh and she tried to compose herself, wiping at her already red and swollen eyes, 'Arceus Cynthia.. stop being so pathetic..'

She laughed bitterly at herself for being so weak, where had the confident Sinnoh champion gone and hid herself?

Maybe that Sinnoh champion had left along with Ash?

* * *

After getting herself more presentable, she decided it would be a good idea to get some breakfast, maybe that could bring down her worries, food.

Not the wisest way for a woman to bring down her worries, but this was a special moment in a way.

She made her way down the hall towards the elevator, admiring her surroundings while she's at it. Scott really outdid himself with the redesigning of the elite floors in the hotel. Though she was very doubtful if it really was the chubby man who had planned all of this himself.

Abit odd but soothing artwork along with very modern styled furniture, carpets and colors.

Perhaps abit too much for her taste, but none the less, it was something she could focus on for the moment, she didn't want to repeat what had happened in her room earlier.

Arriving at the elevator she pressed the button for one of the bottom floors.

Cynthia sighed when as the painful memories of yesterday wouldn't go away, she shook her head 'Forget about it! I won't see him until our battle..'

A pling broke her out of her thoughts as the elevator doors opened up, she stepped inside hoping that today would be a better day.

Would it?

* * *

**A big thanks to Ohaeder for giving me tips and pointers on these three chapters, make sure to check his works aswell.**

**The chapter itself feels abit rushed in terms of progress, let me know if that's the case, i'm abit paranoid.  
**

**Thank you everyone for the amazing response on the first two chapters, i hope this chapter satisfy everyone just as good.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of it's characters.**

**A Charred Memory: Chapter 4**

* * *

He was staring into those all too familiar colored eyes.

It felt like they represented the calm and cheerful moments in the world, but something was wrong with these eyes. What was it that stood out so much?

They seemed to be clouded by something he couldn't really grasp.

Shock? Fear? It could be millions of reasons, but he felt like they currently represented something for him personally.

Hatred.

Ash could only guess what his own eyes looked like, what did they represent to the woman in front of him right now?

Did they represent the hatred he was feeling? Was he putting on a mask of indifference over the situation?

Ash himself couldn't even tell, all he knew was that the surroundings of the elevator felt distant, the distance between them felt smaller.

He shook his head once, taking the first action between the pair of two.

After a step or two, he stood silently inside of the elevator next to her, his face facing forward towards the elevator door itself.

He didn't need this right now, he didn't want to deal with talking to her this often. There was enough time for him to brace himself for the meeting yesterday, but now all of a sudden?

Ash felt cramped inside of the elevator, hard to breathe.

He shifted his gaze towards the time present just above the elevators display.

5:12 AM

Ash let out an audible sigh, why did she have to wake up so early? Didn't proud women like her need their 'beauty sleep'?

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't had any female contact besides his mother for the past seven years. He shouldn't really judge her right now.

Ash cracked a small smile at that, he could almost hear Lua scolding him for assuming things that weren't true.

He turned his head to the right slightly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

She looked.. nervous? He couldn't tell, and it wasn't the nicest of things to suddenly turn and stare at her.

That would probably only further confuse her and make her even more nervous.

Not that he'd mind her being nervous and shy around him, he minded that she didn't give off anything that he could work with.

He had decided to get revenge after all, it was the least he could do for his friend.

Friend...

When was the last time he saw those he had called friends? He couldn't even remember.

Sure, his pokémon had always been his friends, but he felt like he needed more.

A human connection of sorts, maybe his old friends could provide that, and if they hadn't changed all too much he would bet everything that they were here in this building right now.

Carefree days, how he wished he could go back to those times.

Sure, he maybe wouldn't be as experienced as he is now when it comes to battles, but he wouldn't have had to lose one of his friends.

Sighing once again, he pondered over how this tournament would turn out.

He didn't like to be cocky, but he have seen close up how his pokémon have developed into the beasts on the battlefield they are now.

In his years of travelling had he never seen on any pokémon stronger in battles, not even on TV.

Ash felt confident none the less, he knew his friends would pull through with his guidance, he was sure of it. They had never let him down before, and he felt that they wouldn't now either.

It was good to have something to fall back on when the worst of him came out, his pokémon..

A soft pling alerted Ash of the abrupt stop of the elevator.

He glanced over at the other person present as the elevator doors opened to reveal the pristine lobby of the Pokémon League hotel.

Ash saw her sigh before putting on a determined expression on her face. He smiled at that expression, he would have fun with this, it would fit in so well.

Cynthia started making her way out of the elevator along with Ash.

Ash stopped after a few steps as he was outside of the elevator, he shifted his gaze towards the woman walking in front of him. He could see her trademark black coat bounce up her legs with each step, revealing most of her legs.

If he was any normal man in this moment, he would probably be mesmerized by her movements. But this involved revenge, physical appearances had next to nothing to do with it.

The woman continued her trek forward inside of the lobby, Ash let her walk a few steps ahead of him, the distance would provide space when talking so that they would have to speak a tad bit louder then normal.

Enough for the small amount of men and women present in the lobby to hear them clearly.

"Cynthia," Ash called out in a neutral tone.

Cynthia came to an abrupt stop in steps. It was humorous sight to see the Sinnoh Champion slowly and warily look over her shoulder at him.

He could see the small traces of panic in her expression, maybe she had guessed he wouldn't call out for her? She had probably judged him too quickly. Though he couldn't be all too sure.

"Yes?" came the answer in a small tone, not the one people usually connect with the proud and elegant champion of the Sinnoh Region.

Ash himself could clearly see her acting out of character, it was an amusing sight in it's own right.

'I wonder who's making her act like that..' he thought with a small smile.

"Your battle is today, correct?" Ash questioned, he already knew the time and place for it to happen, but calling out to her would make her aware that he was fully intending on watching her battle, hopefully this would give him some form of entertainment in the long run.

A small nod was the answer given to his question, not the answer he was looking for, though it would work for now atleast. She still had the small traces of panic stuck in her expression and mannerism.

Fidgety, it's not often you see a champion in such a state. He should enjoy this while he could.

Ash started making his way towards the woman in front of him, his gaze planted firmly on her face. Her eyes seemed to follow every step he took with something he couldn't place.

Sure, her mannerism had been awkward since he had called out to her, and sure her expression still hinted at the nervousness present on her face.

Though there was something else in that gaze he couldn't place.

Sighing as he took the remaining steps he stopped next to her adding, "I'll be watching it," before continuing making his way forward without looking back.

He had a breakfast buffé to empty, didn't he?

* * *

If humans could make themselves deaf by screaming internally, Cynthia was sure she'd be deaf by now.

Why was this man standing before her right now? Why did he stare back at her with that kind of face?

His eyes, she noticed, his chocolate brown eyes were filled with some emotion she couldn't place. His expression was one of indifference towards this whole thing, but his eyes seemed to speak of something else.

Cold, they were colder then any eyes she'd seen. Not even those who hated her in the battling world of pokémon looked at her with such eyes.

A shiver ran through her body as her heart beat loudly and painfully inside of her chest.

Did he hate her like everyone else? Did she make a mistake by trying to talk with him?

Had she insulted him in their earlier meeting? She tried to think back to what they had talked about, but she couldn't make herself think of anything. All that she could see and think of was those eyes that held her gaze.

She felt naked under those eyes, it felt like they studied her.

He broke her gaze with a small shake of his head, something that greatly startled Cynthia.

She watched his form come closer and closer to her, before he placed himself next to her inside of the elevator.

Her breathing was non-existant, was she holding it right now? Was she even breathing? A dull throb of pain was felt inside of her head.

Why did he have to ride the same elevator as her? Where was he going next? Her thoughts continued to rage inside of her head, dizzyness making itself appear.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, he looked.. like a statue. His movements were minimal if not non-existant. This only further disturbed the blonde woman.

Was he like this cause of her being here? Was she at fault for making him like this?

She glanced at the clock on the elevators display, 5:12 AM. Didn't he have anything better to do this early? Sleeping like normal people? Now that she thought about it, maybe he wasn't one of the most normal people she'd met, but who was she to judge. She barely knew the man.

'I don't know anything about him yet he makes me feel like this..' she thought bitterly, having the urge to run far away from the other person present.

Maybe it was how she talked to him when they met that set him off? She could remember their conversation now that she thought about it. And to her dismay, it was a rather one-sided conversation.

Did she appear too forward for his taste? Did he come from somewhere where that was considered impolite? She didn't like to be hated at first glance without having her say in things.

There had been enough people in the battling community that had judged her way too harshly when they hadn't even as much as said a word to her. Did he know her from somewhere?

She resisted the urge to smack herself, ofcourse he knew her from somewhere if he had talked to her like that.

Her frame shook lightly at memory. Those eyes that seemed black under the caps shadow, they had seemed so cold..

A sigh interrupted her train of thoughts, startling her but just as easily making her thoughts drift away into endless questions that flooded her head.

What did he have to sigh about? Was he thinking about her just as much? Was he bored?

She tried to calm herself down, a headache wasn't something she wanted to recieve right now. 'Calm down Cynthia.. you're thinking too much..' she thought to herself.

She glanced over at the man from the corner of her eyes, he looked calm and collected, even though he still had the feel of a statue. Did he not care about what had happened yesterday?

The pling of the elevator coming to a stop was finally heard, gripping Cynthia away from her nagging thoughts.

'Lets hope we won't see eachother until our battle..' she thought with a sigh, 'I guess all i can do from here is looking forward!'.

Cynthia put on a determined expression, she was the Sinnoh Champion, she shouldn't be fazed by that mans antics since she's surely not being affected by others who treat her the same as him to some extent. Though no one went that far..

With a light shake of her head she marched forward out of the elevator and much to her chagrin, the man followed her in her steps right beside her. Wasn't it enough with the elevator ride they had just shared?

She had a strong urge to turn around and scream at the man to stop following her, but then again she don't know if this was accidental or meant. 'I mean really.. going into the elevator at the same time at 5 AM? The odds..' she thought bitterly.

Cynthia continued her trek through the rather, in her opinion, nice looking lobby. It had the feel of the upper Elite floors but with more.. class.

She smiled lightly, admiring her surroundings as she continued forward to get some much needed breakfast, or any food for that matter.

Though what she didn't notice was the lack of footsteps next to her..

"Cynthia,"

She stopped dead in her tracks.

'No.. please tell me it was just my imagination..' she pleaded, this wasn't what she needed right now. Cynthia looked over her shoulder slowly, and sure enough there stood that man staring at her a good few steps away.

Why couldn't she had just ignored him and continued on? Did she really have to stop and look? She would've never done that if it was someone else, but that just confused her further. This man was doing something to her.. and she didn't like it.

"Yes?" Cynthia asked, surprising herself with her rather timid voice. 'Great.. now my voice hates me aswell..' she thought bitterly. Things weren't going the way they should today, that was for sure.

Now that she got a closer look at him, she could actually see his face without it being blocked by his cap or shocked like this morning for once. And what she saw surprised her, sure she had seen most of his face, the color of his eyes and such. But the man she saw in front of her right now looked nothing like she would've originally thought of such a.. cold person.

He was far more on the attractive side then the detestable side, that she was certain of, but when she now could fully take in his features, he looked like a rather nice and warm person much to her own chagrin and confusion.

One wouldn't think that this man, this man right here in front her, would say something along the lines of '**Don't you mean looking forward to kill them?**'.

She shivered once again at that memory, this wasn't the same man. It just couldn't be.

The man in front of her spoke up once more, "Your battle is today, correct?".

Now that she remembered, her match was indeed today though it was far from now. If her memory served her right, it was sometime in the afternoon. It almost, just almost felt abit embarrasing to now know the time of your battle spot on.

She answered with a small nod, and something passed over the mans face so fast that she barely could catch it. But she fully understood just what emotion had passed over that mans face.

Disappointment.

Why she had no idea, but for him to feel disappointment over her is just ridiculous. He had nothing to do with her, not to mention he didn't know her.

This train of thought however, was crushed as he saw him starting to make his way towards her.

Frozen, that was what she felt like as she stood there. His steps felt like they were echoing through the entire building, making her ears ring. Why he was walking towards her she had no idea, but she couldn't really blurt out 'Why are you walking towards me?' that would be plain stupidity.

Her eyes stared intently at each and every of his steps, each of them bringing him closer to her, each step with that god awful echoing. Truth be told, she wanted to run away and she damn well would've if it wasn't for the fact that her legs felt like they weighed more then she could ever lift non the less think of.

She felt the slight touch of their shoulders at his stop next to her, why he had stopped there was out of her league of knowledge, this man thought of the most random things.

Cynthia could feel the faint smell of citrus as the man beside her said just what she didn't need. And in an instant continued his walk, where he was heading she didn't care, she didn't care about anything right now. All she could hear was just that small bundle of words he had just said to her echoing just as painfully in her ears.

"**I'll be watching it,**"

* * *

The sound of doors sliding open was met with sound of boots creaking and cracking into the snow with every step. Ash had just finished his breakfast, a rather tasty one at that. He could get used to this thing, living at a hotel in a comfy bed, eating delicious breakfast.

He had even saved a few things from the breakfast buffé, mostly as a treat to his pokémon. They surely had already eaten something, that he was certain of. Or well.. as certain as he could be. They often had disagreements, courtesy of Exploud and Venusaur.

Lets just say he wouldn't be surprised if they were starving to death right now, hence he had actually brought something for them.

A few fruits, berrys and a few others things. Also three or four ketchup packets for his mousy friend. Although his starter had argued with remarkable quality arguments about recieving his ketchup earlier then them, he didn't relent.

He would get them when everyone else got theirs. The yellow mouse aswell had to eat something else that wasn't ketchup, as he supposedly didn't eat what he had been given at breakfast. Ash was pretty sure that if he had stayed on that mountain for five or so more years, he would've been driven insane by his pokémon.

Ash thought back to when he had his breakfast, and he had witnessed a few things that surprised him.

The first surprise was the overly friendly people eating breakfast at 5 AM, most of them even attempted to talk to him about the randomest of things. Though most of them tried to get him to talk about his pokémon, much to his annoyance.

He didn't get why people could just wait for about four or so battles to find out. It surely wasn't that interesting was it? Right now, he didn't have a name. Apparently being nameless makes you a target for stupidity.

The people questioning him about his preference in pokémon and his upcomming battles wasn't elites, how they knew about him went right over his head.

'Probably Scott..' he thought. That damn chubby bastard made life abit harder for him just by pointing out where he was inside that room. Couldn't he just be nice and keep his mouth shut? No, he was Scott, ofcourse he couldn't.

Ash sighed as a few frozen leafs crumpled under his boots with every step. The morning air was cool and pleasant, this was what he had called "Summer" up at the mountain, and to be honest it felt pretty good walking in this weather.

He was walking through the white and grassy scenery without much thought about where he stepped, he just knew that if he walked straight forward, he'd eventually reach his pokémon.

The people there wasn't the only thing that surprised him. What caught him off guard the most was the fact that the Sinnoh Champion could sit completely alone and undisturbed eating breakfast. He was jealous. Why couldn't they flood around her and ask for pictures or dates? And now that he thought about it, why didn't they?

Had she gone that much into her shell after what had happened? He didn't care if she did, it was just odd. He figured people would've forgot about the whole ordeal years before.

But it seemed like they still clung onto it and took it out on the blonde woman, much to Ash's pleasure. She had suffered during these years, that's good. But it wasn't the same and not nearly as sufficient as him giving it to her himself.

That was what he was here for after all, revenge. His pokémon said they wanted to honor their fallen friend.. could he do that through revenge or would they be happier through winning the tournament? What would Charizard have preferred?

He didn't enjoy thinking about his friend, but sometimes he had too. He had signed up for this tournament for his Charizard, and he was completely intending on going through with it.

But what would his pokémon think about his decision of revenge? Would they agree or disagree? He didn't know and he didn't want to assume things that weren't true.

The sound rustling leaves above him broke him out of his complicated thoughts. The trainer looked up towards the trees above him, and sure enough his earlier mindset had given him what he wanted.

"You know master, your Aura could probably have been sensed all the way to Sinnoh judging on how it behaved moments ago," a Jackal-like pokémon said, jumping down from the branch he had been sitting on.

"Good morning to you aswell, Lucario" Ash muttered, not really in the mood to be teased. His companion walked up beside him and gave a small smile, "How does the phrase you humans use go again?.. Ah, 'Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning', master?"

Ash grumbled something under his breath before answering, "As much as i'd like to stand here and discuss human phrases and update you on your humour, it'd be best if i'd make sure my pokémon don't starve to death,"

Lucario only smiled at his friend, "I believe Lua and I have already taken care of everything, master," he said with a bow, "They're currently in a clearing not far up ahead, shall i lead the way?" the Jackal-like pokémon questioned.

Ash walked up to his long-time friend and pet the Lucario's head softly, "Thanks for the help, and yes.. yes it'd be best if i get there as soon as possible," the trainer smiled lightly.

"Very well," the Lucario added with a small bow, proceeding to guide his trainer towards their friends.

* * *

As Ash arrived at the snow covered clearing he was quite confused. This clearing was larger then the one he was in yesterday. Had his pokémon transformed into an migrating herd? He wouldn't have questioned it if it wasn't for the fact that Pikachu was with him at all times. His mousy friend always tended to bring all of his friends with him on his crazy ideas.

And imitating a herd of tauros could quite possibly be one of them.

A small feeling of nostalgia washed over him as he saw his friends gather around him. He could remember his herd of tauros clearly, how were they now? Did they have it good and comfortable?

His old pokémon he rememberd, his old friends and teams he had traveled with for a few years had humbly refused his offer on going away with him to train where ever he had planned on heading at the time.

They had all been very understanding of his current situation, it had almost affected them just as much as himself. His pokémon didn't blame him over his choice but they found it rather sad that he had to resort to alienating himself from soceity. He remembered most of them looking guilty as they didn't want to come with him, as if they weren't fulfilling their duties as a trainers pokémon.

Some time after he had left with his three companions on this new kind of journey he had found out why exactly most of his pokémon had refused his offer to follow him. He had to admit, it was a very valid excuse and he didn't hold it against them, in fact he was happy for them. But that didn't diminish the sadness one bit.

Many if not all had found mates over at the Oak Corral, some had even laid eggs of their own. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he was about returning, how would his pokémon react? Sure, they are still his friends and he is still their trainer. But to come back and decide to perhaps start training them one day again when they had small mons of their own didn't sit all too comfortably with Ash.

He was thankful though, that three of his oldest friends had agreed to come with him. And now that he was standing here, looking at the battle hardned creatures before him, he felt proud. He felt respect over these that had stayed with him through thick and thin, never complaining and never wavering in their decision to join him. They made him truly happy.

Ash's gaze landed over his other three friends who had joined them later on in their journey. And he had to admit, they had made their own marks in his life. A small smile crept up onto his face as he remembered how all three had joined him.

His Lucario, then at the time a Riolu, he had met earlier in his Sinnoh Journey. During his visit in the region in search of a suitable training area at the time, Ash stumbled upon the very same place he had met with Riolu. He could clearly remember his adventures and how his friend had returned to where he belonged. Although during his Sinnoh Journey Ash had gotten a few parts of Aura explained, it wasn't like he could use it.

Though he remembered as he walked across the very same area they had saved the Emanation Pokémon that he had felt the aura of him as they tracked him down. Perhaps such a thing could be recreated, perhaps not. But it was worth a try, he didn't have a goal as of now in this journey other then training. What could a small visit of a friend cause?

Right now, if Ash had to answer that question he would say 'Everything', and that was exactly what had happend. He had found his friend again with the faint aura he could somehow still sense, and through trials he didn't even believe himself he had performed.

The Riolu had been thrilled to join him, there was no question about it. But as a guardian of his home he couldn't just leave without informing everyone in the kingdom. And when he did, chaos broke out. Many Lucario's threathning Ash or so he thought had assumed. It wasn't until Riolu himself proved his bond with the trainer, much to everyone's shock and annoyance.

It was the type of bond, he had found out later, that an Aura Guardian and their destined pokémon had, although this one was relatively new and weaker then a fully trained Aura Guardian.

After the bond had been proven, he found out that his Riolu had to promise several things in order to be able to leave. Such as returning home when dangers approached aswell as returning home every few years to stay atleast for awhile.

And kept up that promise he did with the help of Lua and Ash.

Exploud on the other hand, had been quite a reckless pokémon he'd noticed, atleast as a Whismur.

To be honest, in Ash's on point of view he was just startled suddenly one day in his journey through Hoenn, this time he had been making his way towards the desert areas of the region for intense training, by an ear-splitting cry behind him only to find a small Whismur getting attacked by a small flock of wild Swellows.

Not in the mood to watch a small pokémon suffer, Ash quickly let his Ivysaur and Wartortle dispatch the flock and had Riolu rush and grab the smaller pokémon to safety. It all worked flawlessly as the little pokémon came out of it relatively unharmed. He figured it had just fallen pray to a flock and this was the Whisper Pokémon's territory, thus causing Ash to leave the small Whismur behind after he'd nursed the pokémon up.

And much to his surprise the Whismur kept wandering after him for quite a long distance, never stopping for food or rest just wobbling along trying to keep up with the rest of them.

It wasn't until he saw the small pokémon faint from exhaustion and possibly starvation that he actually decided to stay with the pokémon long enough after he'd nursed it back to health to see what it wanted.

And once again to his surprise the only thing the Whismur tried to do when it had awoken was to try and press the button of an empty pokéball, constantly running around Ash as he turned away from the small pokémon.

It wasn't until he actually questioned the smaller pokémon if he wanted to join them that the Whisper Pokémon stopped and stared at the trainer. Though seconds later he was met with an ear-piercing scream along with excited nodding that went on for about two minutes until Ash had actually regained his hearing.

After forcing Ivysaur to hold the small pokémon down with his vines, mostly so that the Whismur wouldn't jump him in an attempt to press the pokéball button, he decided that if this Whismur was so intent on joining him, he would let it.

He didn't really think much of the Whismur evolution line in terms of battling power, but pokémon were pokémon, they could all grow to immense heights and he would make sure of that with his newest friend.

Though, about two years later he found out exactly why Whismur, now at the time a Loudred, had chased after him when he had exited the Rusturf Tunnel. The pokémon had witnessed Ash actually healing aggressive pokémon that had attacked them, instead of leaving them there to suffer and possibly die.

Living as a wild pokémon was harsh, and it seemed like the little Whismur would make sure that he atleast would live peacefully, even if he had to die on his way there. And thus started the long wobbly trip after the raven-haired trainer.

Ash had only smiled as he heard the story a few years back, he always got surprised each and everyday with how amazing pokémon really are.

And now he was looking at possibly the strongest he would ever see, and they were his pokémon, his friends, his family...

A small nudge broke him out of his memories, he found his Pikachu nuzzling his head against his leg, probably to get him to actually pay attention, and it was then he felt the small watery sensation on his cheek.

He slowly lifted his hand and rubbed the small tear that had escaped his eye and let out laugh, though not one of pain, but of pure happiness.

The pokémon looked at their trainer oddly before he shook his head with a gentle smile plastered across his face.

"What are you all staring at?" the trainer chuckled out, picking up his mousy friend, "We've got training to do. Since we're planning to win this thing aren't we?" the raven-haired man questioned loudly.

It was met with such fierce roars that it almost sent him stumbling, one thing was for sure though..

He would win this, no matter what stood in his way.

* * *

**I guess this is what you'd call an "Character Development" Chapter? As for those frustrated that the battle isn't atleast at the "Begin!" in this chapter, i am terribly sorry for that but i don't feel like rushing into such things without having atleast some backstory explained, but i can ensure you that there will atleast be one possibly two battles in the next chapter.**

**Also, Ash's moodshifts/attitude shifts are intentional just letting you guys know. I'm also terribly sorry that this is once again an "All-talk" chapter.**

**Once again, thank you so much for the amazing response, i can only hope that i keep satisfying you all with the chapters.**

**As for answering a few delayed questions, that comes now.**

**Q UzumakiBattleWolf: Will you use Lucario's mega evolution as super power up or something?**

**A: Sorry, i won't be including such things in this story as it was written before i even knew it was out.**

**Q skywardkkalox: Id like to see charizard back from the dead when ash battles cynthia. He should be given another chance at life by arceus being 1 of the chosen ones pokemon**

**A: I'm sorry, but i can't do such a thing as it would prove too much of a plot twist and make pretty much every build up meaningless.**

**Q DualStarduster: I can't complain about update timing since I am in school and can't update often myself... Other than that, I was really hoping to get to the opening ceremony at the least or the start of the know right after the referee says Begin! And chapter ends there, no matter it's still nice. Hopefully the second one happens in the next chappie.**

**A: I'm sorry to disappoint you with the third and possibly this chapter with battles, but i hope you'll be glad to know about a large scale of battles coming in the next chapters. As for updating time, i got school aswell as i mostly write when i got inspiration or time for it, which is rare. Hence the update times can be abit.. varying. My apologies.**


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